Trouble sleeping
by QuinnOfConeyIsland
Summary: Fluffy one-shot: Joker has trouble sleeping and Harley tries to find a way to help him with that.


Ever since Harley left her life as a young, promising doctor behind to live as a criminal with her so-called "puddin'", it didn't take long for her to realize that though he seemed like someone who wasn't bothered by a lot of things (but was rather more likely to bother _someone else_ ), _sleep_ was something that didn't come easy to the Joker.

Some nights were okay and during their first nights together, Harley had not been able to pick up on his sleeplessness due to the fact that she didn't have a problem with it herself. But one time, she had woken up in the middle of the night to find him pacing about the room. She had rubbed the sleep from her eyes to sit up in bed and ask him why he wasn't sleeping. "I can't," was what he had said and asked her why she even cared. She wasn't hurt by his words. Grumpiness was a side effect to insomnia. Instead of making it worse by trying to get him to come back to bed, she had laid back down and fallen asleep again. When she had found him tossing and turning in his sleep or once again being out of bed several of the following nights, she had started to worry for real. For how long had it been like this? It hurt seeing him so troubled. Surely there had to be something she could do?

Harley woke to the sound of knives being sharpened. She opened her eyes and grabbed her cellphone on the nightstand to see what time it was. 2:34 AM. She had to widen her eyes and blink a few times to get a clear vision. She leaned over to his side of the bed and looked down at him sitting there on the floor. She sighed. "You shouldn't be doing that in the dark," she said and turned on the lights over their bed. It was a huge contrast to the dark and she closed her eyes hard for a couple of seconds. He didn't react to the change of lighting. He just kept his bloodshot eyes on the knives in his hands. It was almost as if he was in trance. Not a word came from him. She sighed once more and then got out of bed to join him on the floor. She came up next to him and gently placed a hand on his arm. He stopped his movements at her touch and looked into her eyes. _Could you let me finish?_ He didn't say it out loud, but she could read his mind.

"I know that a knife can never be too sharp in your opinion. If I let you finish it's gonna take all night." He didn't try to fight her when she removed the knives from his hands and put them aside. "Come here," she whispered and helped him up to his feet and took him back to bed with her. She sat with her back against the headboard and pulled him close in front of her.

"Harley, what are you doing?" Once again, she could read his mind, also hearing the words: _You better answer me, or I'm gonna pick those knives right back up_. She merely smiled and then moved her hands up to his shoulders and started massaging them slowly in a steady motion. At first, he tensed up, but almost instantly she felt him relax underneath her touch.

"Helping you go back to sleep," she said and kept on massaging, moving her hands up and down his back in order to cover more than just the shoulders and neck.

After a while, he started to lean back against her and that's when she decided it was a good moment to lie back down. She held him in her arms and ran her hand through his green hair, hoping to make him relax further. Without thinking, she started humming softly on a tune. It was no tune in particular, she just made it up as she went. His breathing was getting slower and deeper. She looked down at his face. It had been so long since she'd last seen him this peaceful. As peaceful as a homicidal clown _could_ look, anyhow. To her, he looked like an angel.

When she had determined he was finally asleep, she turned the lights off and closed her eyes. After that, whenever he had trouble sleeping, she would hold him close, give him massages if necessary and just hum a soft melody to put him at ease. It didn't always help as much as that first time, but it was still far better than having him pacing around the room all night long. And she could tell he appreciated it. He just never told her. But she was alright with that.

* * *

 **A/N: I just felt like I really needed to write another Suicide Squad Joker/Harley fic. Especially after having seen so much new footage! It just makes me even more confident in how their relationship will be portrayed. And wow, the movie comes out so soon! Once I've seen it, I will definitely be writing a lot more of JXHQ! I have some ideas, but I really want to see the movie first to better understand the characters and know how I'm going to write them. :) This fic was actually inspired by a couple of headcanons from murderous-manipulative-angel on tumblr. If you're on tumblr and you love JXHQ (especially the Suicide Squad versions) you should definitely follow her! Her headcanons are amazing and she writes some fics too! :)**


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